Afterglow (Sarah McLachlan album)

Afterglow
Studio album by Sarah McLachlan
Released	4 November 2003
Recorded	2002-2003
Genre	Pop
Length	40:11
Label	Nettwerk (Canada) Arista (US)
Producer	Pierre Marchand
Sarah McLachlan chronology
Remixed (2001) Afterglow (2003) Afterglow Live (2004)
Singles from Afterglow
"Fallen" Released: 22 September 2003 "Stupid" Released: 31 May 2004 "World On Fire" Released: 14 June 2004

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	55/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Blender	[3]
E! Online	B−[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[5]
Mojo	[6]
Q Magazine	[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Slant Magazine	[9]
Stylus Magazine	(F)[10]

Afterglow is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan. Released on 4 November 2003 on Nettwerk in Canada and 4 November 2003 on Arista Records in the United States, it was her first album of new material in six years, after the success of Surfacing and the Lilith Fair festival. Following those successes, McLachlan took a few years furlough to start a family with her then-husband and drummer, Ashwin Sood. Their daughter, India Ann Sushill Sood, was born in 2002.

She also did a lot of work with the Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach program, funding music lessons for disadvantaged children.

Unlike past albums where she went to an isolated cottage to write the songs, she wrote the songs for Afterglow in her family home mainly before the birth of her child. She wrote the songs entirely on piano, which is also a departure from her previous albums which she wrote on guitar. Longtime collaborator Pierre Marchand produced the album. McLachlan wrote eight of the 10 songs herself and co-wrote the other two with Marchand.

The song "Answer" was featured in the 2007 movie The Brave One, starring Jodie Foster. It has also been used in television commercials for the ASPCA, with McLachlan herself appearing in person.

Commercial performance and award nominations

Afterglow was released on 4 November 2003 and was a success in North America, reaching number two on the Billboard 200, selling 361,000 copies in its first week of release and number one on the Canadian charts.^[11] It reached #33 in the UK (McLachlan's biggest success there thus far) and the top 50 in Australia in 2004. The first single, "Fallen", reached the top ten on the Adult Top 40 Billboard charts and a remix reached top ten in the United States dance charts. A second single, "Stupid" was released in March 2004.

McLachlan was nominated in five Juno Award categories in Canada, including Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year for Afterglow, and Songwriter of the Year for the songs on the album. The awards were announced on 4 April 2004. The album was also nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Pop Vocal Album field in 2005.

Although not as successful as Surfacing, Afterglow has sold over 2.3 million copies in the US (as of November 2004) and went two-times platinum.^[12] Worldwide, the album has sold more than four million copies (as of October 2006).^[13]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Fallen"	Sarah McLachlan	3:47
2.	"World on Fire"	McLachlan, Pierre Marchand	4:22
3.	"Stupid"	McLachlan	3:24
4.	"Drifting"	McLachlan	3:23
5.	"Train Wreck"	McLachlan	4:36
6.	"Push"	McLachlan	3:56
7.	"Answer"	McLachlan	3:58
8.	"Time"	McLachlan	4:07
9.	"Perfect Girl"	McLachlan, Marchand	4:43
10.	"Dirty Little Secret"	McLachlan	3:55

Personnel

• Sarah McLachlan: Vocals, Electric Guitar, Piano, Rhodes Piano, Keyboards
• Pierre Marchand: Guitar, Bass, Piano, Keyboards, Synthesizer Bass
• Bill Dillon: Guitar, Guitorgan, Church Organ
• Michael Chaves: Guitar
• Michel Pepin: Guitar
• Sean Ashby: Guitar
• Yves Desrosiers: Guitar
• Mark Jowett: Guitar
• Ethan Johns: Guitar
• Tony Levin: Bass
• Daryl Johnson: Bass
• Jim Creeggan: Acoustic Bass
• David Kershaw: Hammond Organ
• Jorane: Cello, Background Vocals, Vocal Treatments
• Ashwin Sood: Drums, Percussion, Loops, Keyboard Bass
• Jerry Marotta: Percussion

Production

• Produced by Pierre Marchand
• Engineered & Mixed by Pierre Marchand & Chris Potter
• Additional Recordings Engineered by Roman Klun, John Oliviera, Linda Strawberry, Yanick Daunais, Brian Hogue & Pete Caigan
• Mastered by Bob Ludwig
• All Songs Published by Sony/ATV Songs LLC & Tyde Music, except "World on Fire" & "Perfect Girl" (Sony/ATV Songs LLC & Tyde Music, Studio Nomade Music).

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2003–04) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 22 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] 72 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] 18 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[17] 23 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[18] 1 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[19] 33 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[20] 23 European Albums (Top 100)[21] 28 French Albums (SNEP)[22] 65 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 25 Irish Albums (IRMA)[24] 20 Italian Albums (FIMI)[25] 66 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[26] 30 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[27] 14 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[28] 37 Scottish Albums (OCC)[29] 26 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[30] 20 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] 19 UK Albums (OCC)[32] 33 US Billboard 200[33] 2

Year-end charts Chart (2003) Position US Billboard 200[34] 124 Chart (2004) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[35] 83 US Billboard 200[36] 34

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[37]	Gold	35,000^^
Canada (Music Canada)[38]	5× Platinum	500,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[39]	Gold	100,000^^
United States (RIAA)[40]	2× Platinum	2,300,000[12]
Summaries
Worldwide		4,000,000[13]
^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. "Afterglow reviews". CBS Interactive. 4 November 2003. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
2. Allmusic review
3. Blender review
4. E! Online review
5. Entertainment Weekly review
6. Mojo review
7. Q Magazine review
8. Rolling Stone review
9. "Slant review".
10. Stylus Magazine review
11. Caulfield, Keith. "Drake Debuts At No. 1 on Billboard 200". billboard.com. 23 June 2010.
12. "McLachlan Returning To The Road Next Spring". Billboard. 2 December 2004. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
13. "Sarah McLachlan Releases Holiday Album, "Wintersong"". Starpulse. 26 October 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
14. "Australiancharts.com – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
15. "Austriancharts.at – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
16. "Ultratop.be – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
17. "Ultratop.be – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
18. "Sarah McLachlan – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Sarah McLachlan. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
19. "Danishcharts.com – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
20. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
21. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
22. "Lescharts.com – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
23. "Offiziellecharts.de – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
24. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 6, 2004". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
25. "Italiancharts.com – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
26. "Charts.org.nz – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
27. "Norwegiancharts.com – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
28. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
29. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
30. "Swedishcharts.com – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
31. "Swisscharts.com – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
32. "Sarah McLachlan | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 24 November 2016.
33. "Sarah McLachlan – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Sarah McLachlan. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
34. "2003: Billboard 200 Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
35. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 2004". ARIA. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
36. "2004: Billboard 200 Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
37. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2004 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
38. "Canadian album certifications – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Music Canada. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
39. "British album certifications – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 October 2016. Enter Afterglow in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
40. "American album certifications – Sarah Mc Lachlan – Afterglow". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 26 October 2016. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH